Klinsmann said: “After almost 10 days of work right now, we thought the point has come to make the decision.”

The USA face an extremely tough draw in Brazil, sharing Group G with Germany, Portugal and Ghana. Their first game is against Ghana on 16 June in Natal.

In recent days, Donovan's chances of selection had inspired intensifying debate. The Los Angeles Galaxy striker, 32, who had a successful spell in the Premier League with Everton and has also played for Bayer Leverkusen and Bayern Munich, has played in the last three World Cups, scoring five times. He has 156 caps and has scored a national-record 57 goals.

Speaking from the team's Stanford training camp on Monday, Donovan appeared to share the doubts about his selection expressed by some pundits. He said: "I sort of liken it to 2002.

“In 2006 and 2010, I knew for the most part that, unless I was awful, I was going to make the team. This time is more similar to 2002 where I wasn't sure.

"In that way, it is as competitive as it has been personally in a long time. There is a lot of quality here and you can really make the case for any of the guys to be on the squad."

There is a place in Klinsmann's squad for Julian Green, an 18-year-old German-born Bayern Munich midfielder who has one cap and could now be the youngest player to make a US World Cup team.

In a recent interview, Donovan said: "As far as Julian goes, I’m always reluctant with young players to, one way or the other, to critique them, because they’re still young and they need time to develop.

"We’ve seen a lot of times in this country that we get a little too excited about a young player and it ends up affecting them one way or the other, good or bad."

Landon Donovan scored against Algeria to keep the USA in the 2010 World Cup.

In 2012, Donovan took a break from football, citing tiredness resulting from a near-constant global schdeule. The break meant he missed the USA's first qualifying matches for Brazil, but he said at the time: “If I'm not enjoying playing anymore, the World Cup is the last thing on my mind.

"I need to make sure that I'm enjoying playing every day. If I'm not enjoying it, none of that stuff really matters."

Announcing his selection for the 2014 finals on Thursday afternoon, Klinsmann said: “It’s an exciting moment when you have narrowed the roster down as a coaching staff, and these 23 players that you’ve chosen can focus now purely on Brazil.”

Graham Parker: Jurgen Klinsmann's shock decision gave his strongest indication yet that form, not reputation, will determine his team — but axing the USA's highest scoring World Cup player is a big risk